


Beauty in the water, Angel on the beach.

by disneysjewel



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, M/M, but muke was in the past, calum is literally a baby, he also speaks french in the begining, lifeguard!Ashton, malum centric, mermaid!calum, storeworker!Luke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-13 17:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4531149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disneysjewel/pseuds/disneysjewel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael travels back home for a few months to stay with his crazy, mermaid obsessed uncle. Upon his walk on the beach, Michael finds a naked boy unconscious on the beach. Being the good person that he is, Michael takes said boy back to his home to rest only to find out this mysterious boy grows a tail once in the water. </p><p>Michael finds out that Calum, the human name that they give him, is on a mission to find his sister and return her back to the sea. With the help of Calum's new human friends, Michael, Ashton and Luke, he plans to get his family back together while learning about the human world.</p><p>~~~~~~~~</p><p>Or the one where Calum is a merman & Michael can't  help but to fall in love with him</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I only have two reasons why I'm starting another story, and they both start with the letter M. Mermaids & Malum.

There is one thing in this world, Michael hated more than anything and that was flying. Especially when the flight was over fifteen hours and completely over the entire Pacific Ocean. He had to say he was lucky that he was seated in an aisle seat. There were no temptations to look out the window and it was easier for him to run to the restroom in the back.

“Is there anything I can get for you, sir?” The flight attended bend down next to Michael’s seat with one of the fakest smiles he had ever seen. Michael shook his head after jumping from the sudden voice, making him even more on edge. Before she had appeared, Michael was actually working on his breathing. It was a trick his mother told him to do whenever he was getting uneasy from the flight. 

“No. Just, when are we landing?” The attended glanced down at her watch. 

“We will be arriving at Sydney Airport in about an hour. Not that much longer.” She smiled again and walked to the next aisle behind Michael. There was at least some good news. Michael only had one more hour until he was safely on the ground. The last fourteen hours were just hell. 

As a person who as a fear of the open ocean and flying, why would he ever want to go a place where that is the only means of transportation. His reason was his hometown. Ever since moving to the States over three years, Michael made a deal with his parents. He’d go to their choice of university if he’d be able to go back to Sydney during the winter. This was his last winter before starting his first classes. 

Michael stepped into the Sydney airport and it was buzzing with people. His carryon bag slumped on his shoulder; he made his way to the Baggage Claim. Now he was excepting his Uncle Tom to be at the main gate waiting for him. Well that was what his mother told him. But Michael had been staying with his Uncle for the past three years now and knew better. He more than likely had forgotten that his only nephew was flying into today with one of his crazy studies. 

Just for kicks, Michael scanned over the herd of people with signs. None of them had his name on them. He had at least tried. He just got a taxi instead. 

~*~

“Uncle Tom!” Michael knocked on the rusty old screen old for the tenth time. He would have ringed the doorbell, but after ten minutes of doing that, he even got annoyed of the bell. Michael stood on the porch of this uncle’s small house. It hadn’t changed much since last year. There were still piles of junk all scattered among the yard, most of it being fishing equipment. 

Michael, impatient as he was, pulled the screen door and attempted to do the same with the wooden door. To his surprise the front door was unlocked as well. Being the paranoid freak he knew his uncle was, the door should have been blotted locked.  
“Uncle Tom!” Michael called out again. “It’s me Michael.” Stepping inside, the house reeked of fish. The living room was empty and so was the kitchen. Michael wondered more to the back of the house. He turned a corner to be stopped by a sharp point of a spear. Michael’s heart nearly stopped at the sight of a mad scientist wielding a spear in front of him.

“Who the hell are you? And why are you in my house? Are you here to steal my work? Huh?” The man gently poked Michael’s chest with the spear.

“UNCLE TOM, it’s me Michael. Your nephew! I’m here to spent the winter.” Michael screamed. He should have suspected something like this but knowing Uncle Tom, well he never knew with Uncle Tom.

Tom kept the spear on Michael’s chest and pulled off his goggles. The older man squinted as looking at the boy. “Michael, my boy. Why didn’t you say so.” Tom dropped the spear and embraced his nephew in a hug. 

“I did like twice.” The man also reeked of fish and was covered in dirt. Michael pulled away, wiping away any dirt that got on him. 

“Must have not heard ya. And it’s hard to recognize ya when last I saw you, you had red hair instead of blue. Needless to say, I am working on a very big experiment right now.”

“Oh. Still on the hunt with finding fish people.” It was hard for the boy not to laugh.

“Mermaids, my boy. Mermaids.” Michael just smiled and rolled his eyes. After a fishing accident, Uncle Tom had somehow suddenly believed in mythical creatures in the ocean and had been obsessed with finding one. “They’re out there. And I’m so close to finding one.” 

“I’m rooting for you Uncle Tom. I really am.” Michael gave him a thumb up. “I’m going to go unpack. Then I’m going to head into town.” Michael headed to the direction of the guest room. Why his uncle had on in the first place baffled him. No one seemed to visit the crazy man besides his nephew. 

“Alright, alright. Oh, wait.” Tom dug into this lab jacket pocket. “Here. I do lock up after ten. Just in case you’re out after that.” Tom placed a brass key in the palm of Michael’s hand. “Don’t lose it.”

~*~

It was the small community that Michael actually liked about living in a small fishing town just outside of Sydney. Everything was in walking distance, so real need for a car unless there was a reason to go into the city. The first stop Michael had to make was to the beach. He had texted his long time friend, Ashton, about his arrival and the older boy was over the moon excited about see Michael. 

“Michael!” Ashton ran down the lifeguard tower to hug his friend. Michael almost fell to the ground by the force Ashton gave that hug. “Ah, it’s so good to see you, man.” Ashton released his hold and stepped back. Ashton looked exactly the same as he did last year, except the extra inch of hair covering his ears. 

“You too.” Michael smiled. Ashton was a lifeguard. It was his means of making money for college. He had already done his first year, but how much the boy loved the ocean, Michael couldn’t see him actually stop being one. 

“Hey. My shift is over in about an hour. We can catch up over dinner. You have to tell all your Hollywood celebrity sightings.” Ashton joked. “And, uh, have to talked to him yet?” Michael didn’t need Ashton to name this person, he already knew who Ashton was talking about. 

Michael side glanced before answering, checking just in case he was around the corner for some reason around. “No. Don’t really plan to it either.” 

“Oh, you guys still not…?”

“Yeah.”

Michael was so glad that another lifeguard came calling for Ashton for, what Michael understood, was another weird sighting. Beach goers had been reporting a strange figure in the waters for day but nothing more than that. Ashton, as head lifeguard was pushing it aside, calling it a rouge dolphin or something. They two of them parted, Ashton back toward the beach and Michael back into town.

Seeing that he had at least another hour to meet Ashton at their old favorite restaurant. It wasn’t until after he realized where he was, that he regretted taking his street. Just yards in front of him, just outside his family’s owned shop, was Luke Hemmings sweeping outside. The other boy had his head down, so Michael was sure that he hadn’t seen him yet. 

Purposely, Michael went and crossed the street. He did not want to run into Luke. He planned on avoiding him his whole time here. Luke didn’t need to know Michael was back in town. An hour had passed by the time Michael made it to the restaurant. He texted Ashton that he had arrived and was grabbing a table. The dirty blonde joined him not too soon after. 

“So did you find your sea monster yet?” Michael smiled taking a bit out of his burger. 

Ashton faked laughed. “It’s not a sea monster. It’s just a rouge dolphin or something. We don’t know for sure.”

“What was with that anyway?”

Ashton sighed. “For the past week now people have been reporting of hearing strange noises. A lot of say it sounds like a dolphin, but never see anything. It could be I guess. It’s just strange for one to be so close to shore this time of the year. But what makes it weird, in my opinion, is that most of these reports are made toward the end of the day. Right around sundown. Never any reports during the day.”

“And it’s not like there is actually anything dangerous in the ocean, right?” Ashton noticed the sarcasm in Michael’s voice. 

“Michael, just because you had a bad experience in the ocean, doesn’t mean you have to go and hate everything in it. Ocean creatures are fascinating.” Michael didn’t say anything. Ashton was smart to change the subject and called the waiter for an order of beers. 

~*~

“And hey, Mikey glad you’re back home.” Ashton patted Michael on the back before the two of them went their separate ways. The moon was dim in the night sky. Michael hadn’t realized how late him and Ashton drank until. Looking at his phone, it was pretty late. A half an hour after ten. It was a good thing his uncle gave him a key to his house. 

The walk from the restaurant to his uncle’s house required Michael to walk by the beach. There also seemed to be a party going as well. There was booming music and light coming from a far end of the beach. Walking farther and farther away from the on going party, Michael still managed to hear one strange sound. It wasn’t music; it was more of an animal sound. Like a dolphin. 

It must be the dolphin everyone had been hearing. Curiosity got the better of him, and Michael took a side trip back to the beach. It was difficult to know where he was going by just following the noise. There would be a long, high-pitched chirping that went on for a minute or two then it was silent. Then it picked up again. 

Michael stood on a small pier when he heard the chirping the loudest. He had to be close now. The moon above him was bright and was illuminating the ocean just enough for Michael to see if anything was out there. He scanned the area of ocean around the pier but saw nothing that looked like a dolphin. 

He was disappointed that perhaps it all ready left. He hadn’t heard the chirping in a while. Michael turned back around down the pier until something in the water caught his eye. It’s wasn’t a dolphin, from where he stood, it looked like a boy out in the water. He had pitch-black hair and his skin had a slight glow to it. The boy seemed to be looking toward the bright lights of the party on the other end of the beach. 

Michael stood there at the end of the pier just watching the boy. The other didn’t seem to notice Michael; all his attention was toward that on going party. Michael glanced over to where the boy was looking at when he heard it again. The noise. Michael frantically scanned the open sea. But not even a ripple in the water. 

Michael’s eyes went back to the boy who oddly hadn’t moved. When the other opened his mouth that was when Michael almost fell into the water. As the boy looked like he was going to shout something, instead of a regular voice, the boy made the exact same noise Michael had been hearing all night. Michael rushed to pull out his phone and opened up the flashlight app. He shined the bright light on the boy and called out, “Hey!”

The boy turned in the direction of Michael. He froze like a deer in headlights. And before Michael could say anything else, the boy sunk back into the water. Ripples in the water told Michael that the boy was swimming away. There was something strange about that boy, but Michael couldn’t put his finger on it. 

Michael chose to forget about that strange boy in the water and wanted to go to bed. With all the travel he had done today, all just want to do sleep. Arriving back on his uncle’s porch, Michael dug into his pocket for the key. His heart stopped. He couldn’t feel the key anywhere. He checked every single pocket he had on him. “Shit. Shit. No, please no.” He whined to himself. “Fuck. I must have dropped it at the pier.” Michael hit his head on the screen door.

Taking out his phone, Michael dialed Ashton. “Hey, are you home?”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here is at least one update on my fics. I've just have writer's block on most of them (which is not a good thing) I might add another chapter to this but if not, I'm going to work hard on Northern Lights.

Michael was so glad that Ashton was such a good friend. He knew he was going to have to return the favor to Ashton sooner or later, but right now all Michael was worried about was how he was going to get comfortable on Ashton’s couch. It felt like he had been tossing and turning for an hour. He knew he was tired, but his brain wouldn’t stop going. After another fifteen minutes of finding the right spot, Michael finally closed his eyes and fell to sleep. 

Michael knew Ashton odd hours and had to be at the beach at an early hour but no one should be actually happy and singing that early in the morning. Michael groaned hearing the upbeat boy making his way through the small living room of his apartment to the kitchen. 

“Sorry, forgot you were here.” Michael sat up to see Ashton with a bowl of cereal in his hand.  
“Are you always this happy in the morning? It’s like,” Michael looked at his phone. “It’s 6:30 in the morning!” He groaned again, flopping back down to the couch.

“Some of us are just morning people.” Ashton said with a mouthful of cereal. “Let just finish my breakfast and I’ll be out. Just lock up when you leave.” Michael closed his eyes as his listened to the small racket Ashton made as he cleaned up and headed out the door. He was just about to drift back to sleep when the doorbell rang. 

Reluctantly, Michael got up to answer it. He was in his boxers and tank he had under his flannel from yesterday and his hair was just a blue mess. But he didn’t care. It was fucking seven in the morning, whoever was at the door deserved the death glare Michael was about to give. When he did open the door and saw who was on the other side, he wanted to shut it right in his face. 

“Hey Ash, I have your order-“ Luke started off looking in the box filled with groceries until he saw Michael in front of him and not Ashton, the actually person who lived in the apartment. “Michael? What the hell are you doing here?” 

“I could ask you the same question.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Is Ashton here?” 

“Nope. You just missed him.” Luke sighed. 

“What is with that?” Michael pointed the box Luke had in his hands.

“It’s his groceries.”

“What are his bitch now?” Michael chuckled. 

“No.” Luke snapped. “My store delivers for some customers. Wait, I don’t have to explain anything to you. Just tell Ash, I was here.” 

“I can take them.” Michael offered. 

“I’m not doing that. I can’t trust you with anything anymore.” The glare Luke gave him made Michael wince. Michael didn’t say anything. “Like I said, just tell Ash I was here and he can pick these up later.” Luke turned on his heels and walked out of the building. 

“Dick.” Michael muttered to himself as he closed the door. After a quick shower and putting on the same outfit as yesterday, Michael was out of the apartment before noon. The walk from Ashton’s apartment to Uncle Tom’s place required Michael to go by the beach, and went to give Ashton his message. 

~*~

“Shit, well thanks for telling me.” Ashton smiled. “Sorry, I know you didn’t want to talk to Luke while you were here.” Michael shrugged. 

“I was bond to see him. It is a small town.” Ashton nodded, understanding. “I just want to move on, but he doesn’t seem to.” Michael saw the look he was given by the older boy. And went and changed the subject. He needed to stop talking about Luke. He was here for vacation, to relax and enjoy being home. “So, slow day today?”

Ashton sneaked a quick smile before turned to the shore. The beach wasn’t as crowded as it usually was during this time of the day. “Yeah. Ever since these rumors have been going around, a lot of people have been staying away. I don’t mind it too much. I still get paid and it’s less people to worry about. I just want this to be over with, so people won’t be afraid anymore.” 

“Oh hey!” The memory of last night clicked in Michael’s head. “Guess what? I heard the dolphin noise last night. By a small pier, um, not too far from here.”

“What? Really? Where?” 

If Michael was correct, that pier would only be about less than a mile from the lifeguard tower. He turned and pointed east. “Are you sure?” Ashton asked. The younger boy nodded. Ashton was all ready to follow Michael when another lifeguard asked for his attention. 

Ashton hid his eye roll from the other lifeguard. “I’ll catch up. I’ll meet you up with you. Just beyond those rocks there.” Ashton gestures to where Michael pointed earlier. Michael nodded.

Michael was right. Just past those rocks, down a more private part of the beach, he saw the small pier. Because it was a more private part of the beach, Michael was not expecting to see anymore around. He paused when there at the edge of the water was a naked person just face down in the sand. 

At first, he thought the person was just sunbathing or something. But why he was at the edge of the water and not up further in the beach. Cautiously, Michael approached the boy, he soon found out getting closer. The boy was in fact naked; his bare ass was hard for Michael not to stare at. “Hey.” His voice low, not knowing if the boy was asleep or not. 

A minute passed and the boy hadn’t moved a muscle. “Hey!” Michael squatted down and shoving his shoulder to try and get the guy to move. “Are you dead?” A stupid question to ask, he realized after. “Shit.” Michael bit down on his lip. He didn’t know what to do. He looked over his shoulder, in hope that Ashton was on his way. Looking back at the boy, Michael took in his face. It was only a side of it, but he swore he’d had seen him before. Michael pushed away stray hair out of the boy’s face. 

By the gently touch the boy’s eyes shot open, going directly up to Michael. Startled, Michael lost his balance on his heels and feel on his ass. He breathed out a sigh of relief seeing that the guy wasn’t dead. “Hey, sorry about that. I didn’t know if you’re dead or not.” He tried to explain himself. The boy stood up, muttering a single word “Soeur”. 

“Whoa!” Michael’s green eyes bugged out when his face was in direct view of the boy’s junk. The boy looked around the area then started to walk toward the more populated part of the beach. “Hey! Wait.” Michael scrambled back to his feet and followed the tanned boy. Michael managed to catch up with him, making him stop by walking in front of him. 

“You can’t go over there. Not like this.” Michael quickly looked down at the boy again then immediately moved his eyes back to level eye. The boy tilted his head in confusion. Michael saw that his eyes moved behind him and Michael turned to see Ashton running their way.

“Oh thank god, you’re here. I need your help.”

“Who’s this? And why is he naked?” Ashton asked when he stopped next to Michael. 

“I don’t know. I just found him on lying in the water. He hasn’t talked much.” 

“Hey,” Ashton waved at the boy to get his attention on him. “Are you hurt?” He said slowly and clearly. The boy shook his head. The two other boys sighed in relief. “Are you lost? Do you know your name? Do you know where you are?” The boy’s brown eyes snapped to Ashton then to Michael after each question. He titled his head in confusion. 

“Ma Soeur.” The boy begged, his eyes on both Michael and Ashton as if they understood him. 

“That’s all he says. I don’t know if that is English or not..” Michael turned to Ashton, “So what are you going to do?” Ashton looked a little flustered. 

“Um, I don’t know. I’ve never had this happen before.” The lifeguard rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Wow. You’re such a great lifeguard Ash. We can’t just let him just roam around the beach like this.” It took a minute for the blond to come up with a solution. 

“Yeah, can’t have that. Hey, you’re uncle’s place is just down the street right?”

“Yeah?” Michael responded hesitantly. 

“Do you think he could just hang there, until I get hold of the police? Some one might be looking for him. Come on, I can’t keep him in the tower, I’m the only one on duty right now.” Ashton defended when Michael didn’t look like he liked this idea. “Once Karen comes in, I’ll make my way over and take him off your hands. In the mean time, see if says anything else.” 

“Fine. But this counts for me repaying for last night. And would about his no clothes thing. I can’t bring a naked guy into my uncle’s home.” Ashton pondered. 

“Wait, give me a minute.” Ashton ran back to the lifeguard tower and came back with a towel. He offered it over to the boy. When he did nothing but stare, Ashton quickly wrapped it around his waist, finally covering him up. “There. And you can keep that too.”

~*~

It was hard to get the boy to follow him all the way to his uncle’s place but one thing that seemed to work was when he said his favorite words, ‘ma soeur’, Michael would nodded excessively and the boy was right on his heels. Once at the doorstep of the house, it hit Michael that he didn’t have the key. Awkwardly, Michael turned to the boy who seemed to have taken interest in an old, beaten up, radio that was sitting on the edge of the porch railing. 

“Hey.” Michael called over to the boy, who he was going to call Bob because of his lack of imagination. “Stay here.” He pointed to the ground, making sure Bob somewhat understood. “I lost my key, so I’m going to try and find anyway in.” Michael dashed off the porch to the backside of the house. He was praying that his uncle might have left a window open. To his dumb luck, there was one window propped open. 

Crashing through the other side and landing head first on the wooden kitchen floor, Michael rushed to the front door. Bob was still messing with the radio as if he hadn’t seen one in his life. The blue haired boy tapped on Bob’s shoulder, pulling him away from his new discovery. “You can rest in here.”

Bob popped his head, taking in the living room. His brown eyes locked onto everything single thing in the room, amazed by it all. “It’s like you’ve never seen a house before.” It was fun for Michael to watch for a moment. He had to stop once he felt his phone buzz.

“Hey.” Michael answered. 

“Hey. Has he said anything yet?” 

Michael glanced over to Bob staring at his reflection on the TV screen. “No, not yet.”

Ashton sighed. “Well, I called my boss, told her about him. She said it’s not uncommon to have lost, foreign tourist but we fucked up by not taking him to the authorities first.”

“You mean you fucked up.” 

“Whatever. So once I get someone to cover for me, I’ll be over to pick him up. Maybe the police can get through to him.” Michael nodded. 

“Okay. And what about clothes? I’m not letting a stranger borrow any of my things.”

“I guess I see what we have in lost and found.” Ashton hung up after Michael could hear another lifeguard in the background. His attention went from his phone back to the boy, who was nowhere to be seen. “Fuck.” He mildly started to panic. Michael didn’t even hear him leave, so he was still in the house. Michael started to call out throughout the outside. It was a small place, so he had to be somewhere. 

Michael breathed out in relief when he saw the towel-wearing boy in the hallway looked at pictures his uncle had on a table. “There you are. Damn you really are quiet. I should have put a bell on you or something.” Michael laughed at his own joke. Bob, however picked on old Christmas card his mother send to his uncle. He had to have been at least fifteen in the photo. He remembered that year. He had just started to grow out his then blond fringe, and high school sucked. 

Bob pointed to the younger Michael, “You?”

“Yeah. That’s me.” Michael smiled fondly at the cliché, Christmas photo. “Wait you speak English? ” Bob didn’t answer. He placed the card back on the table. Just for a moment, he thought he could actually have a conversation with him. “Nevermind. I really don’t know if you can understand me, but my friend, the lifeguard, he’s going to be taking you to the police. They’ll be more of help to you. So you’re allowed to chill here for a while.” 

“Toilettes.”

“Toilet?” Michael asked confused by the random statement. “You want to use the toilet?” Bob nodded. “Sure.” Where they stood in the hallway, the restroom was just a door down. Michael led the other to the restroom. Once the boy closed the door behind him, Michael heard the tub being turned on. “Hey, just don’t make a mess. And use the same towel to dry yourself.” Yelled through the door.

Michael went back to the living room, turning on the television. He didn’t know how long Ashton would be. And he really didn’t want to babysit some random guy. But this was probably going to be the most exciting thing to happen during his visit. The water had stopped from the bathroom and Michael guessed the Bob had finished. Making the place a bit more comfortable, Michael turned on the TV and left in on a marathon of Friends. He watched one episode just for kicks. It wasn’t until the third episode came on that he started to worry. Bob had been in the restroom for over an hour now. Anxiously, Michael went back to the restroom door and knocked. 

“Just checking up on you. You’ve been in there a while. You alright in there?” Asking this was pointless because Michael knew the boy won’t respond to him. He just didn’t want to him have died somehow. He went for the doorknob. “I’m coming in!” He shouted as he slowly opened the door. 

The door flung open along with Michael’s mouth. He stood there in shock at what he saw. He was excepting to see a naked boy again. Instead, he only saw half of a naked boy in the tub and a giant fish tail hanging off the end.

“What! What- what the fuck-“ Michael stammered out. The boy lay in the tub with wide eyes. The same pair he saw last night. He knew he recognized he boy from somewhere. 

“W-w-wait.” The boy reached out from the tub for Michael to stop.

Michael grabbed for the door again, closing it behind him. His back was pressed up against it and his eyes shut tight while he tried to calm his breathing. It took him a second to open them again. 

There was a mermaid in his tub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also THE SKH EP HAS GIVEN ME SO MUCH INSPIRATION TO WRITE TO EXCEPT A COUPLE OF UPDATES SOON.


	3. Part 3

“No. I’m not crazy. There is not a half fish person in my uncle’s tub right now. I must have taken a hit from going through the window. Yeah, that’s it.” Michael tried to calm himself. He was not crazy. And he knew he wasn’t because what he just saw was real. His head felt light for a second. He ran his hand through his blue hair, giving a light pull to make sure right now was real. 

Michael looked back at the closed door. With a deep breath, Michael swung opened to the door. Bob was still in the tub but this time there was no tail hanging out the end. “You had a tail. I saw it! It was right here.” Michael walked up to the bathtub angrily. He had just seen a giant fish tail and he wanted to see it again. “And you spoke English, again. You can talk, can’t you?” He pointed down at the sheepish boy. Seeing like that made Michael regret his tone in his voice.

The boy in the tub lowered his head, his hands started to fiddle with a necklace. Why Michael didn’t notice it before, it was just a simple leather rope with a pearl. The boy pressed his lips in a straight line before his opened his mouth of speak. “Yes. It magic.” 

“Magic?” Michael sounded doubtful even though there was a mermaid in his tub right now. The boy nodded, his fingering going back to the pearl. It started to faintly glow as the boy held it between in fingers. The glow grew around the pearl as well around his legs. Michael jumped back watching in awe was the bright light made his legs disappear and replace them with the same orange tail he saw before. 

“Wow, okay that was pretty cool.” Michael admitted. The tail flipped against the tub as the boy blushed. “And what about your English? Do you understand me?” Michael kneeled down on the tile floor, meeting eye level with the other. Even though Michael had only heard him speak less then ten English words, he did know some words. 

The boy nodded. His face scrunched up, looking for the right word. “Very little. When talk a lot, very hard.” Michael felt bad now. If only he’d shut up maybe he could have starting talking sooner. 

“Sorry about that.” The merman just grinned. It became quiet in the bathroom. Michael had so many questions he wanted to ask. But now knowing Bob had difficulty with words, he started off small. “So why are you here?” He said slowly as possible. 

Again, the merman fought himself to find the right English words. “Ma…my sister. She is here.”

“Your sister. Is she a mermaid too?” Stupid question, Clifford. But the merman nodded still the same. 

“She likes human world. Spends much time up here.”

“So what, is she like Ariel?” 

The merman titled his head with squinted eyes, not understanding the reference. “Forget it.” Michael shook his head. “So what’s your name? Do you have one?” He said is slowly and clearly as he could but the other looked utterly confused. “Name.” He paused then pointed to himself. “ ‘m Michael.” He then pointed to the one in the tub. “What is your name?”

It was like a light blub clicked on in the merman’s head. He opened his mouth but no words came out just loud, chirping in random pitches. It was loud and piercing noises that caused Michael to cover his ears. 

“What in the hell is that?!” A loud yell came from the living room. Michael’s heart stopped and his green eyes went to the door that was slightly turning. His uncle was home and there was a mermaid still in the tub. The first thing he did was cover the other boy’s mouth with his hands, silencing him. Then pressed a finger to his lips before slipping out into the hallway where he was face to face with his uncle.

“Was that you?” Uncle Tom asked his nephew. Michael panicked. 

“Uh, yeah. It was an app on my phone. They really do have an app for everything.” He laughed nervously. His uncle bought it and nodded. 

“I suppose they do. Now, move boy. I’ve had a long morning and I need to go.” Uncle Tom tried to step beside Michael but the boy copied his move, blocking the door. He can’t have his Uncle, the crazy obsessed mermaid hunter actually find a mermaid right in his own home. Michael was getting this strange sense of protection for the boy. Every part of him was screaming at him to keep this creature safe. If his uncle found him, there no telling what he’d do.

With every move his uncle tried to get to the bathroom door, Michael reflected it by stepping right in his way. Uncle Tom was growing more and more frustrated when Michael would not move from the door. “If you don’t get out of my way, I swear,”

“You can’t go in there! I … I just took a huge shit!” He pinched his nose to add more emphasize his point. “If you want to keep your nose, I wouldn’t go in there.” Michael’s back was pressed up against the door as if his live depended on it. His uncle didn’t move as he just stared down at his nephew. For a second, Michael even thought he saw suspicion in his uncle’s eyes.

Uncle Tom sighed. “Fine. I’ll just go and use the master bath. And open a window.” Michael waited until his uncle was out of the house again before going back into the bathroom. The merman was still in the tub with his head thrown back against the wall with his eyes close. His brown eyes opened when he heard the door open and saw Michael entering. 

“That was a close one.” He muttered to himself with a huff of relief. It was settled that he needed to the merman out of this house. But where could he hide a teenage boy without it looking suspicious. 

The loud ring of the doorbell knocked Michael out of his thinking. “Michael! Are you there?” Ashton yelled and banged on the door. The blond always seemed to be the answer to Michael’s problems lately. 

“Uh, hey, uh… Bob.” Michael directed toward the boy in the tub. The name he had come up sounded odd when he spoke it. He was going to have to find a new one for him. And there was no way he was going to attempt to pronounce his real name. If those noises were his name. “I have to get that. It’s my friend. But,” Michael wanted this next part to be very important, “I’ll knock two times” Michael pounded his knuckles on the counter, the knocks right after each other. “so you know it’s me. But if you don’t hear two knocks, I want you to change back to legs. Okay?” He didn’t know if his uncle would come back at any time and mange to get into the bathroom. And it would be easier for Michael to explain why there was a naked boy in the tub then a merman. 

“Y-yes.” Bob nodded. Michael grinned before leaving the merman to his soaking. When Michael opened the front door, Ashton rushed right in, tossing Michael clothing, which he presumed to be for Bob. 

“Hey I figured out what he was saying. It was French of all things. But he was talking about his sister.” Ashton looked around the small living room. “Where is he?” 

“In the bath. But Ash, uh, I need to tell you something about this guy.” Michael threw the clothes on the couch. “Wait how do you know French?”

Ashton was already making his way toward the restroom and Michael was right on his heels. “You won’t let a stranger borrow your clothes but you’ll let him the tub.” The blond left out a breathy laugh. “I took it as a elective my freshman year in university. It’s always a class full of girls. But that doesn’t matter. After we get some clothes on him, I’ll take over to the police station.”

“No, seriously, Ashton, wait.” Michael grabbed onto Ashton’s shoulder, stopping him and turning him to face Michael. “We can’t take him to the police.”

“What why? Did you manage to get to call someone? His sister?”

“No. Not really. It’s…” Michael was having a hard time trying to find the right words to tell his best friend that the guy we just found is a mermaid who is looking for his missing sister and we can’t take him to the police or anyone in that matter. “Another problem came up.”

“Don’t tell me has amnesia or something?” Michael wished that were the case. 

“I think it’s better if I show you. Just don’t freak out.” Ashton had this questionable look as Michael walked the rest of the way and stopped in front of the bathroom door. Ashton was right behind him, peeking over his shoulder. Michael gave two quick knocks before he slowly opened the door. 

Michael stepped in first and the merman looked up and just smiled at the two who entered. Turning back, Michael saw Ashton’s jaw drop to the floor. “The fuck-“ His mouth opening and closing like a fish. “I-I- That’s, that is a mer-“ Ashton stopped himself. After a few nervous chuckles, Ashton left out of the bathroom with Michael right after him. 

“Hey, Ash. Are you okay? Talk to me.” 

“Am I okay?” He raised his voice before going into a whisper. “There is a mythical creature in your tub right now and you’re asking me if I’m okay.” Ashton laughed again. 

“You can see now why we can’t take him to the police.” Ashton nodded as he muttered a ‘yeah’ under his breath. “And he can’t stay here, so we have to take him to your place.” Ashton’s snapped up. 

“What! What do you think I want a mermaid in my apartment?”

“It’s the only place I could think of. And you have the guest room that your siblings use when they visit right? He could stay in there. Please, Ash. He’s just looking for his sister. Once he finds her, he’ll be gone.”

“And who says we are helping him? Can’t he go back into the ocean? I don’t see why we have to help him.”

“We found him. And he is pretty clueless about everything. We can at least try and help him.”

“He is not a lost puppy, Mikey.” Ashton tried to reason with him. “He a full-grown person – half person. I think he could do this on his own.”

“You don’t understand. He is completely clueless. He barely knows how to speak English. He just wants to find his sister. Please.” Michael pouted and his eyes softened. 

Ashton sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Fine. And he better be potty trained. Get him ready, I’ll be waiting in the car.” The older walked away, still hold onto his head. 

Getting a merman out of a tub and into clothes was way more difficult than Michael had originally hoped for. He seemed all right with getting out of the tub but putting the clothes on, he was not. It was trying to put on clothes on a four year old who had made up his mind that wearing clothes was not for him. 

“Just put the shorts on at least.” Michael begged. He had just chased the naked boy out of the restroom and into the living room. Ashton was waiting outside and he didn’t know when or if his uncle would come back. He had to think fast. Bob was by the couch, looking at some old knickknack and Michael pounced when he completely distracted. The merman ended up on his back with Michael on top of him. The blue haired had to move quickly. 

Michael wiggled the swim shorts through each leg and with the squirming of the boy under neither him, he managed to slip the short up to his waist. The position they were in, Michael straddling the boy, his hand at his waist and his heavy breathing, someone who just happened to walk in would have assumed something entirely different than what actually happened. But Michael wasn’t worried about that right now. He was just happy that the boy was clothed.“There. Now you can out in public.” 

~*~

“Okay, Bob, just watch some TV for a bit, yeah?” Michael turned on Ashton’s TV when they arrived to an episode of SpongeBob. Hey, maybe the show would remind him of home. The boy soon became entranced with the cartoon. 

“Bob?” Ashton asked with an arched brow when Michael made it to the island. 

“I had to call him something.”

“The dude is a mythical creature. He deserves a better name than fucking Bob.” 

“Then what do you want to call him?” 

“Give me a second.” Ashton rushed into his room and came back out with his laptop. The first thing he did after turning it on was search of baby boy names. Michael stepped behind him, wanting a say in the new name. After about twenty minutes of going through all of the A and B names, nothing was right. 

“M-Michael?” A soft voice made both boys turn to the living room. 

“Bro, I think he is calling for you.” Ashton nudged Michael into the living room. The blue haired boy stumbled at first but made his way to the couch, sitting down awkwardly next to the merman. 

“Yeah?” The merman was holding onto his stomach with one arm and pointed to the screen with the other. 

“Food.” Michael looked at the TV and just then a Krabby Patty appeared on screen. 

“Are you hungry? Do want something to eat?” The merman nodded. “Well we don’t have any burgers on hand, but I can make you a sandwich.”

“Sandwich food?”

“Yep.” 

“Mermaid or not, there is no eating in the living room.” Ashton called from his laptop. Michael rolled his eyes. If this guy was going to live under Ashton’s roof, he was going to have to follow Ashton’s rules. 

Michael led the merman to the island and situated him across from Ashton, who was still going through baby names. “What do you have for sandwiches?” 

Ashton pointed a cupboard. “Only for PB&J.” That was going to have to work. Grabbing everything he needed, Michael made the merman a PB&J sandwich (cut in half of course) and set it in front of him. The merman didn’t wait until Michael’s hand left the plate to start devouring the sandwich. 

“Hey, what you think about Caleb?” Ashton asked. Michael shook his head. “Yeah, thought so. Calvin?”

“We are not going to name him after underwear.” Michael stepped back behind Ashton. He was horrible at picking names; it was time for Michael to start picking. “There. What about Calum?” 

 

“Cal-Calum.” The merman repeated with a mouthful of jelly. Both boys turned in surprise.

“You like that one? Do like the name Calum?” Michael asked.

The merman smiled, crumbs scattered all over his face. “Calum. Calum. Calum.”

“Well it’s settled then.” Ashton shut his laptop. 

“Yep. Calum, the little mermaid.”


	4. Part 4

After his fourth PB&J sandwich, Calum went back to the couch. The other two boys cleaned up his mess before joining the merman. They needed some more answers and now that Calum was feed, he might be more focused to respond. Ashton took a seat on the armchair and Michael at the other end of the couch. 

All of Calum’s attention was on the screen, smiling and laughing whenever Patrick got hurt. Michael joined in a couple of laughs before Ashton cleared his throat and turned off the TV.

“Moving pictures. Gone.” Calum’s turned to Ashton then to Michael.

“Just for a bit. We need to ask you some questions.” Ashton was taking control. “You’re here your sister, correct?” Calum nodded. “Why?” 

“Orders.” 

“Orders from who?” Michael asked. 

“Father.” The merman squirmed in his seat. The boys noticed just by that response that was all they were going to get out of him for that question. 

“Okay.” The two others shared a look. Ashton continued with other questions. “How do you know she is even here?”

“Turtles. Say they saw sister here. At party.” The memory of the first time Michael saw Calum, popped into his head.

“Is that why you were making those noises, that night I saw you in the water?” Calum nodded. 

“Hoping sister could hear me. Music too loud. Call to her after sun goes away.” 

“Well, I think I found your rogue dolphin, Ash.” Ashton brushed off the comment when he saw Calum confused. 

“Well we are to help you find her. Both me and Michael will do whatever we can to bring your family back together.” Calum’s whole face brightened up. 

“Thank you! Thank you!” Calum jumped at Ashton and hugged him quickly then jumped to Michael. His hug lingered a bit longer. 

“Yeah no problem, buddy.” Michael awkwardly patted Calum’s back. “And you get to stay here. All the SpongeBob and PB&J sandwiches you want.”

~*~

Ashton and Michael soon had a discussion about how they were going to keep Calum’s secret well a secret. They made a pack. They would be the only two to know what Calum actually was. He was a secret the world was not ready to know. And Michael watched enough movies to know what the government would do to the little mermaid. 

After another hour of SpongeBob, Calum was whining for more food. “I think he ate all my bread.” Ashton announced picking up the empty bread bag in his kitchen. 

“What about Chinese’s? I’m hungry.” Michael suggested. 

“What do you think I am? A catering service?”

“I’ll pay.” Ashton gave in and took Michael’s credit card his mom gave him for his trip. Once Ashton left to pick up their order, as was the only one to have a car, Michael released how surreal by having a mythical creature next to him. Not that he any expectations for meeting a mermaid. Hell, only yesterday he was laughing at the thought of a mermaid. But Calum was slowly raising the bar for mermaids.

Calum seemed to enjoy the cartoon sponge. He laughed at every single thing, every five minutes. But Michael wasn’t too much into now so he scrolled through his Twitter. And when Michael heard silence, he started to panic. 

There curled up in a ball, looking extremely pale was Calum, his eyes fluttering closed. His breathing was labored as pulled his legs closer to his chest. 

“Calum! Hey, what’s wrong?” Michael was internally freaking out. The mermaid was just fine a second ago and now he looked like the life was getting sucked right out of him. The blue haired boy didn’t know what to do. Did mermaids get sick or was he allergic to peanuts? Fuck, he was probably allergic to peanuts. And Michael just killed him. 

“W-water.” Calum was barely audible that Michael wasn’t even sure what he said at first. 

“Water? Shit, do you need to get in a tub?” 

“O-o-ocean.” 

“Okay, okay, okay. I’ll take you to the ocean.” Michael picked up Calum, Michael’s arms under his knees and his head rested against Michael’s chest. The human boy didn’t have time to write Ashton a note and just rushed out the front door. “You’re going to be okay.”

Luckily Ashton’s apartment was really close to the beach. It was probably a perk of being a lifeguard or something. But Michael couldn’t think about that right now, he had a dying half fish person in his arms. It was not even a five-minute walk (half run) to reach the beach. The sun had already gone down, so that meant that the area wasn’t going to be crowded. The last thing he wanted was some swimmer to see Calum, tail and all. 

Finally arrived to the beach, Michael had another mini heart attack. His heart couldn’t take it anymore. Why in the fuck were people still at the beach? Didn’t they know that there were sharks in these waters and that this mermaid needed some ocean water? Michael could hear weak groans from Calum. He really needed to get him into the water, fast. Scanning the area, Michael found Ashton’s lifeguard tower from earlier. That meant the little secluded pier was nearby. 

The sun was just sinking behind the horizon when Michael stepped foot on the pier, and got to the end. He hesitated, not knowing if he should just drop Calum in the water. He was looking worst by the second. As if reading his mind, Calum’s horse voice spoke up, “Drop.” reaching for his necklace. 

Michael didn’t hesitate at all. At the edge of the pier, the human boy did what he was told and dropped the mermaid back into the ocean. Calum splashed into the water, turning in mid-air, going headfirst. Michael dropped to his knees and watched the water. The moon was still bright above him and provided enough light to just see the area in front of him. 

The water was still. Nothing had happened. Michael was holding his breathing, waiting for something, anything. He didn’t understand why he was so worried about Calum being down so long. He could breathe underwater but just the sheer wait was killing him. 

After about five minutes of still water, something started to rise up to the surface. Calum’s trunk rose to the top. “Calum?” Michael called out to the open ocean. It was hard to see anymore then two feet of water in front of him. He pulled out his phone and turned on his flashlight app. Using his phone as a searchlight on the water, Michael stopped scanning when he saw some bubbles rise. “Cal?”

Feet out in the open ocean, the top of the mermaid’s head broken the surface and Calum rose up until his whole upper half of his body was out the water. Michael let out a sigh of relief. The mermaid spotted Michael on the pier and waved at him with the biggest smile. Michael smiled as well, seeing how he was now back to his old self and waved back. 

Relaxed now, Michael got comfortable on the wooden pier-pulling his legs to his chest and rest his chin on his knees. He keep the light Calum as he watched the boy dive in and out of the water; his orange tail shining against the moon light when it was out of the water. And honestly, Michael could have stayed on that pier all night and just watch Calum swim. 

Michael expected Ashton to call soon or later, seeing as he would have gotten back to find no hungry boys on his couch. “Where the hell are you guys?” The oldest sounded worried and a tad bit annoyed, over the phone. 

“Calum had a bit on an emergency. But he’s all good now. Needed a swim I guess.” Michael tried to explain what had happened to the mermaid because he had no clue as to why Calum almost keeled over. Michael heard Ashton hum in response. “We’ll be back as soon as we can, so keep the food warm, yeah?” Ashton kept no promises and informed Michael that’s he’d keep the door unlock.

The sudden realization hit Michael like a ton of bricks that he actually slapped his hand over his face. He had still lost the key to his Uncle’s house and he knew he didn’t want to ask Ashton for another night over. He figured he could just sleep on his Uncle’s porch or something. “Fuck.” Michael voiced his frustration. 

“Michael okay?” Calum was resting his arms against the edge of the pier. He didn’t even hear him swim over. His raven hair was seemingly dry with only a few droplets falling off his shoulders. Michael wondered how long he had just been there. 

“Not really. But more importantly are you? What in hell was that? You looked like you were about to die.” He sounded like some sort of worried parent that almost witness his child get hurt. 

Calum lowered his head, resting his chin on his folded arms. “Yes now good.” Calum quickly glanced up at Michael before he spoke again. “Michael … mad at Calum?” His voice turned into a whisper. Michael wasn’t mad at all. He was a bit freaked out but that had been happening a lot lately. 

“No, I’m not mad. Just got scared, I guess.” 

“Why?” 

Anybody with a heart would have done the same thing right? Calum looked like death and needed to get to the ocean. “Cause I thought you were going to die. I didn’t know what was going to happen.” Calum breathed out a small ‘oh’.

“Calum is sorry. Tail needed to go back in the sea.” 

“Like a recharge or something? Is that going to be a regular thing?” 

Calum shrugged. “Never been out of water this long.”

“It’s only been a day.” A light pink blush spread against his tanned skin. He wasn’t judging Calum. “Anyway, how long are you going to take?” A small splash was made as the mermaid pondered then shrugged and disappeared into the water again. It was still early; the sun had just set so Michael didn’t mind staying out a bit longer. 

But it was getting past two hours now and Michael was starving. And Calum hadn’t come up in a while now. “Calum!” Michael called into the open ocean. He called two more times but no response from the half fish boy. He grunted in frustration or was out of hunger. He didn’t know at the moment. “First I lost my key and now I lost a mermaid, again all in the span of two days.” 

Bubbles popped at the surface that caught Michael’s attention back into the water. “Cal?” The tanned mermaid rose back up.

“Michael not lose Calum. Or key.” Calum lifted a hand out of the water to reveal a shiny gold key.

“What? How?” He took the key from Calum and made sure it wasn’t going anywhere but his pocket. “Doesn’t matter. Thanks.” Calum smiled proud of himself. “Hey why don’t you get out and we can go back to Ash’s and get some food yeah?” Once Michael said food Calum was already at walking up on to shore, completely naked.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on both on Tumblr @ ghibliclifford & Twitter @ marveIirwin


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